The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the internet. Using DNS, it is possible to associate various information with domain names assigned to internet participants. The analogy has been made that the DNS serves as the “phone book” for the internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses.
Domain name registration is conducted under a Shared Registration System (SRS), which was created by Network Solutions, Inc. in 1999 to provide a registry through which multiple, globally diverse registrars could register domain names. The term “registry” refers to the entity responsible for managing allocation of domain names within a particular name space, such as a top level domain (TLD). VeriSign, Inc. is currently the largest registry in the world, managing millions of digital identities associated with the .com, .net, and .edu TLDs.
Name servers are operated as part of the DNS in order to translate humanly memorable domain names (e.g., www.verisign.com) and hostnames into the corresponding numeric Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. This function is also referred to as domain name resolution. Although great benefits are available through the internet, malicious software (also referred to as malware) is present on some sites and other sites attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and the like by a technique known as phishing.
In order to protect users against malware and phishing sites, blacklists (also referred to as block lists) have been developed as a basic access control mechanism that allows a user to access websites except for those listed on the blacklist. Whitelists are utilized to guarantee a user access to sites that are known to be reliable. Despite the benefits provided by blacklists and whitelists, there is a need in the art for improved methods and systems for increasing the security and reliability of internet services.